Jimmie Vaughan - Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites

Album: Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites
Size: 118,0 MB
Time: 51:06
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2010
Styles: Blues/R&B
Art: Full

1. The Pleasure's All Mine (3:43)
2. Come Love (3:16)
3. I'm Leaving It Up To You (3:08)
4. Comin' & Goin' (2:55)
5. Wheel Of Fortune (4:04)
6. How Can You Be So Mean (2:54)
7. Just A Little Bit (3:05)
8. Lonely Weekend (2:37)
9. Miss You So (2:50)
10. RM Blues (3:55)
11. Roll, Roll, Roll (2:53)
12. Send Me Some Lovin' (2:56)
13. Why, Why, Why (4:31)
14. (She's Got The) Blues For Sale (2:39)
15. Funny How Time Slips Away (5:34)

With the Fabulous Thunderbirds, guitarist Jimmie Vaughan became one of the architects of the '70s Austin blues scene. He was, and remains, a concise stringbender whose trebly, staccato solos service the song, never extending past their natural quitting point. The guitarist's solo albums maintained that approach and even refined it, letting a few notes do the talking where others in his frontman status might have tended toward a more spotlight-stealing attack. His supporting work backing Omar Kent Dykes on two sets of Jimmy Reed covers released in 2007 and 2009 further reinforced that style and this, his first solo set in nine years - and only his fourth overall - continues the trend. There is just one original, the hopped-up instrumental "Comin' and Goin'," but Vaughan has dug deep to excavate cool obscurities that fit his less aggressive but crackling technique.

Old friend Lou Ann Barton guests to add her sexy scotch-and-soda vocals on four of the 13 tracks, arguably the disc's highlights. Vaughan also employs horns on the majority of the selections, which brings a jazzy feel to the R&B that dominates this set. His voice won't win any awards, but Vaughan puts across the tunes with a sympathetic swagger entirely in keeping with his tasty guitar solos. He revisits the Jimmy Reed songbook once more for "Come Love," also his lone harp performance here. It's a real find and a terrific duet vehicle for him and Barton in a swinging version that makes you wonder why it hasn't been covered more often. There's plenty of jump blues such as Roy Milton's "RM Blues" and especially "(She's Got The) Blues for Sale," best known by Billy Eckstine, that allows the horns to shine while leaving room for Vaughan's jazzy guitar runs.

The titular ballads also change the pace with a smooth version of Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away" (sung by keyboardist Bill Willis), the swaggering, blues-drenched '50s standard "Wheel of Fortune," and a supercharged run-through of Little Richard's "Send Me Some Lovin'," the latter two featuring Barton's tough/tender singing. Vaughan fans will find this to be a welcome entry to his rather slim solo catalog and most blues lovers will appreciate that the guitarist's sheer comfort level and easy-rolling interpretations of these songs make him a veteran whose best days might be ahead of him. /Hal Horowitz, AllMusic

(For personnel details, see artwork included.)

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Jimmie Vaughan - Plays More Blues, Ballads & Favorites

Album: Plays More Blues, Ballads & Favorites
Size: 125,6 MB
Time: 54:00
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2011
Styles: Blues/R&B
Art: Full

1. I Ain't Never (3:04)
2. No Use Knocking (3:27)
3. Teardrop Blues (4:47)
4. I Hang My Head And Cry (3:41)
5. It's Been A Long Time (3:33)
6. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (2:46)
7. What Makes You So Tough (3:38)
8. Greenbacks (2:11)
9. I'm In The Mood For You (2:22)
10. I Ain't Gonna Do It No More (3:50)
11. Cried Like A Baby (3:55)
12. Oh Oh Oh (4:00)
13. I'm A Love You (2:49)
14. The Rains Came (2:52)
15. Bad Bad Whiskey (2:34)
16. Shake A Hand (4:23)

"If at first you succeed, do it again," seems to be Austin blues/R&B guitarist Jimmie Vaughan's motto, as he returns to the well that provided a hit for him only a year before this second volume's release. Since it took nearly nine years between albums before this, it's obvious that both the acceptance of the last set, and its concept, were something that resonated with him enough to bring the same band back for another batch of covers of cool obscurities from the past. Recording in mono - oddly not noted on the sleeve notes - and live in the studio provides a batch of hot-wired, energized performances that do justice to songs that were likely originally recorded under similar circumstances five or six decades ago.

Only the most obsessive of blues fans will recognize some of the artists such as Jivin' Gene, Teddy Humphries, and Annie Laurie who first recorded these minor gems, let alone the songs themselves. Vaughan digs deep to unearth seldom heard, let alone covered, tracks associated with better-known figures like Ray Charles, Jimmy Liggins, and Hank Williams, Sr. He also revives another Jimmy Reed cover, "I'm a Love You," something he has been obsessed with after recording two albums of the bluesman's material riding shotgun to Omar Kent Dykes. Once again, Lou Ann Barton jumps on board to add her distinctive Southern voice in duet settings and even gets her picture on the cover, even though she only contributes to three tracks, one less than last time. A two-man horn section of saxists Doug James and Greg Piccolo, both ex-Roomful of Blues, brings the jump blues titles into full swing.

Vaughan keeps his typically clipped solos sharp and punchy, using his instrument to punctuate rather than drive the attack. It sounds as loose and animated as studio sessions can be, with seemingly no overdubs to rob the music of its natural spontaneity. Liner notes explaining how Vaughan came in contact with, and was influenced by, these relatively lost gems would have gone a long way to help newcomers appreciate his motivation. Regardless, this remains a terrific, crackling listen and a great party album that sounds as rollicking in 2011 as it would have 50 years earlier. /Hal Horowitz, AllMusic

(For personnel details, see artwork included.)

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Lou Ann Barton - Natural Born Lover

Size: 114.2 MB
Time: 48:41
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2023
Styles: Texas Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Natural Born Lover (3:41)
02. Not Even Me (3:37)
03. Rock 'n' Roll 800 (4:51)
04. Scratch My Back (3:43)
05. Shake A Hand (4:27)
06. Someday (3:15)
07. Te Ni Nee Ni Nu (2:54)
08. Young & Dumb (3:29)
09. Diving Duck (4:07)
10. He's Gotta Use His Head (To Turn Me On) (5:26)
11. I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home (5:53)
12. I Will Change That Too (3:12)

Although she doesn't tour or record anywhere near as much as she probably could, Austin Texas-based singer Lou Ann Barton is among the finest purveyors of raw, emotional roadhouse blues, jump blues, and R&B one is likely to encounter. She can belt out a lyric with so much power and authority that she can be heard over a two-guitar band with horns and drums. Over the course of four decades, she has worked with a who's-who of American bluesmen and women including Marcia Ball, W.C. Clark, Angela Strehli, Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan, Sue Foley, Omar Kent Dykes, Roomful of Blues, and many more. While she has only a few albums to her credit, all are acclaimed by blues enthusiasts. Some of the earliest dates, including 1982's Old Enough and 1986's Forbidden Tones, are bona fide collectors' items. Barton's last recorded appearance was as a billed, featured guest on Jimmie Vaughan's Plays More Blues, Ballads & Favorites in 2011, though she remains extremely active on the Texas club scene.

Born February 17, 1954 in Fort Worth, Barton has played literally thousands of dancehall and nightclub gigs all over Texas and the United States. She moved to Austin in the mid-'70s and joined Stevie Ray Vaughan and W.C. Clark in the band Triple Threat Revue. After Clark left in 1978, Vaughan renamed the band Double Trouble; Barton remained until November 1979. There is an unofficial recording from this period at the Austin Festival, of her singing with Vaughan. In 1980 she left Texas for a short time for Rhode Island, where she'd secured a spot as a vocalist with Roomful of Blues alongside singer and sax player Greg Piccolo and guitarist Ronnie Earle, though she never recorded with them. She won her own recording contract with David Geffen's Asylum Records, releasing Old Enough in 1982. The set, produced by Jerry Wexler and Glenn Frey, featured a who's-who of session greats including the Muscle Shoals Horns, Barry Beckett, Jimmie Vaughan, and many more. Soon afterward she performed somewhat regularly with Vaughan in the Fabulous Thunderbirds. While Old Enough was received warmly by critics, it was a commercial flop due to a lack of promotion by the label. Though she continued to perform as a headliner and with other artists, she didn't record again until she issued Forbidden Tones for Spindletop in 1986. She produced the set herself and cut it live in studio. It's a rough, rowdy, passionate affair that included an all-star cast including drummer Jerry Marotta, and guitarists Jimmie Vaughan, David Grissom, David Mansfield, Dean Parks, and Richie Zito. Barton promoted it on the blues club circuit across the country. In 1989 she was back in the recording studio. She appeared on Marcia Ball's Gatorhythms for Rounder, and released her own Read My Lips for Austin's newly established Antone's label. It was another star-studded affair with saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman, pianist Mel Brown, guitarist Derek O'Brien, and organist Reese Wynans among her sidemen. Reviews were universally positive for Barton's iconic interpretations of R&B, jump blues, and early rock and roll songs by Little Richard, Naomi Neville, Hank Ballard, and others. The following year she teamed with Ball and Angela Strehli for the universally acclaimed Dreams Come True for Antone's, and performed "Don't Slander Me" on the Sire-issued, various-artists compilation, Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson. Other contributors included Julian Cope, Richard Lloyd, Doug Sahm, and T-Bone Burnett. Barton toured the country and Europe with Strehli and Ball to sold-out houses and rave reviews.

In 1992, she guested on Alejandro Escovedo's debut solo album Gravity, and had Old Enough reissued by Antone's. A year later, she participated in the recording sessions for Stephen Bruton's debut solo offering What It Is. In 1994, she sang on Jimmie Vaughan's Epic debut Strange Pleasure, and a year later recorded with Roky Erickson on his All That May Do My Rhyme. The session work and live gigs kept Barton busy. She sang on Nuno Mindelis' Texas Bound (alongside Double Trouble's rhythm section, bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton), and Vaughan's Do You Get the Blues? in 2001. Other than a couple of guest spots on a Jimmy Reed tribute, Barton was absent from the recording scene until 2007 when she sang on Vaughan's and Dykes' On the Jimmy Reed Highway in 2007. It was the beginning of renewed recording activity for the singer. She did more work with Dykes in the studio and on the road, and sang on Vaughan's Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites and Johnny Moeller's BlooGaLoo! in 2010. She was co-billed on Vaughan's Plays More Blues, Ballads & Favorites in 2011 -- despite the fact she only sang on two tracks -- the sessions also included her old Roomful of Blues bandmate Piccolo on saxophone. Barton works only when she wants to. She has to be seen live to be fully appreciated. Her confident stage swagger is balanced by a presence that embodies not only energy but grace and poise. She is a globally recognized member of the female blues singing lineage -- so much so, that if she wanted, she could work all the time; there are numerous artists around the world who would jump at the chance to record or play on-stage with her. ~Richard Skelly

Natural Born Lover MP3
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Lou Ann Barton - Old Enough

Size: 76,9 MB
Time: 32:43
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1992
Styles: Texas Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Full

01. I'm Old Enough (3:52)
02. Brand New Lover (2:28)
03. It's Raining (2:52)
04. It Ain't Right (3:25)
05. Finger Poppin' Time (3:31)
06. Stop These Teardrops (4:11)
07. The Sudden Stop (3:35)
08. The Doodle Song (2:55)
09. Maybe (3:09)
10. Every Night Of The Week (2:40)

The debut album by Austin-based blues-rock singer Lou Ann Barton didn't sound like many major-label releases of 1982. Produced by Atlantic Records veteran Jerry Wexler (with, worryingly, some help from ex-Eagles schlockmeister Glenn Frey) and recorded at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, Old Enough is a solid piece of soulful Texas-style blues-rock. Barton reveals herself to be an exceptional singer, sassy and sly but with a welcome tendency toward restraint. (Many singers in this style try too hard to prove their soulfulness and end up sounding ridiculous.) She's also got a keen eye for songs, investing the old standard "Finger Poppin' Time" with enough relish to make it sound fresh and turning Marshall Crenshaw's rockabilly-tinged "Brand New Lover" into a full-on Wanda Jackson-style barnburner. There are a few missteps, like the too-slick-by-half radio-friendly ballad "It's Raining," but overall, Old Enough is an unpretentious, timeless-sounding set. It all but disappeared upon its 1982 release and remained out of print until the Austin blues label Antone reissued it on CD in 1997. ~Stewart Mason

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Marcia Ball, Angela Strehli, Lou Ann Barton - Dreams Come True

Size: 93,7 MB
Time: 40:20
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1990
Styles: Electric blues, Texas blues
Art: Front, sleeve, tray, cd

1. A Fool In Love (3:16)
2. Good Rockin Daddy (2:20)
3. It Hurts To Be In Love (3:19)
4. Love, Sweet Love (5:05)
5. Gonna Make It (4:01)
6. You Can If You Think You Can (2:40)
7. I Idolize You (3:37)
8. Dreams Come True (2:40)
9. Bad Things (3:05)
10. Turn The Lock On Love (3:18)
11. Something's Got A Hold Of Me (3:45)
12. Snake Dance (3:09)

Dreams Come True is an all-star session by vocalists Marcia Ball, Lou Ann Barton and Angela Strehli. The three women sing with a band led by Dr. John and the session features guest appearances by such luminaries as David "Fathead" Newman and Jimmie Vaughan. The music is straight out of the Texas school of roadhouse R&B and blues boogie but it's delivered with a gritty, hearfelt edge, particularly on the part of the three vocalists. Dreams Come True may follow formula, but it's followed with style and affection, which makes it a very enjoyable listen. /Thom Owens, AllMusic

(For personnel details, see artwork included.)

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Lou Ann Barton - Read My Lips

Size: 117,2 MB
Time: 50:04
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1989
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Full

01. Sugar Coated Love (3:56)
02. You'll Lose A Good Thing (3:27)
03. Sexy Ways (2:39)
04. Shake A Hand (3:54)
05. Good Lover (4:04)
06. Mean Mean Man (2:30)
07. Shake Your Hips (5:00)
08. Te Ni Nee Ni Nu (3:07)
09. Can't Believe You Want To Leave (2:49)
10. You Can Have My Husband (3:20)
11. It's Raining (2:51)
12. Rocket In My Pocket (2:53)
13. I Wonder Why (3:27)
14. Let's Have A Party (2:26)
15. High Time We Went (3:35)

Lou Ann Barton didn't have the best of luck in her early career. Incongruously signed to a major label for 1982's Old Enough, she delivered a fine debut that was utterly out of step with the times. Shunted to a tiny indie in her adopted hometown of Austin, she recorded 1986's oddly poppy Forbidden Tones, an album of John Hiatt and Beatles covers that recalled Marti Jones' albums from the same period; it was a fine record, but it was a complete stylistic aberration. Barton returned to her blues-rock roots for 1989's Read My Lips. Cutting out the synthesizers and pop gloss of Forbidden Tones for a more traditional sound and recording with longtime friends like the Fabulous Thunderbirds' Kim Wilson and Jimmie Vaughan, Barton delivers her strongest set of tunes. As always, the song selection is heavy on the covers, including a new, heart-wrenching version of Irma Thomas' "It's Raining" that beats the pants off the too-slick version she recorded on Old Enough. Barton also salutes her influences on solid covers of Barbara Lynn's "You'll Lose a Good Thing" and a rave-up rendition of Wanda Jackson's rockabilly anthem "Let's Have a Party," not to mention the tough-chick standby "You Can Have My Husband." Wisely free of attempts to update or modernize her timeless Texas-style blues-rock, Read My Lips is a rockin' good time. ~Stewart Mason

Read My Lips MP3
Read My Lips FLAC

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Omar Kent Dykes - Big Town Playboy

Year: 2009
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:18
Size: 95,6 MB
Styles: Electric blues, Texas blues
Scans: Full

1. Big Town Playboy (4:12)
2. Upside Your Head (4:16)
3. I Can't Judge Nobody (3:48)
4. Think (3:50)
5. Mary Mary (2:44)
6. No More Doggin' (3:40)
7. Hello Mary Lee (2:28)
8. Close Together (2:43)
9. Dream Girl (4:02)
10. Since I Met You Baby (3:20)
11. Man Down There (2:57)
12. King Bee (3:13)

After years languishing in the blues-rock trenches, Omar Kent Dykes left his Howlers band behind in 2007, hooked up with friend and fellow Austin-ite Jimmie Vaughan, brought in some like-minded guests such as singer Lou Ann Barton, and cruised into one of the most popular blues albums of that year with a tribute to a major influence for both musicians; On the Jimmy Reed Highway. Little has changed on this follow-up from two years later. While only two tunes are penned by Reed, and Vaughan's billing has shrunk to a below the title "featuring" credit, this can't help but be seen as a logical extension of its popular predecessor.

Dykes digs into the lazy, Texas Reed shuffle from the opening title track (written by Reed's longtime guitarist Eddie Taylor), through the closing buzz of Slim Harpo's salacious "King Bee," 40 minutes later. But this is no case of sloppy seconds. Rather Dykes and Vaughan seem energized by the acclaim of their previous collaboration and loosen up with some returning friends (Barton, guitarist Derek O'Brien, and drummer Wes Starr, the latter who deserves more credit than he gets for capturing the loose yet crisp shuffle associated with Reed's approach) on a similarly styled session that is every bit the equal of the last.

Highlights include a tough, sassy duet with Barton on Jimmy McCracklin's "Think," and a swampy cover of John Lee Hooker's "No More Doggin'." Ronnie James' upright bass also adds a rootsy element captured by Vaughan's predominantly low-key solos. James Cotton swings by on harp for five selections including a peppy take on Lightnin' Slim's "Hello Mary Lee." The set sounds perhaps deceptively spontaneous as the players congeal around their mutual love for this laconic yet invigorating Texas blues. There is no sense trying to update this traditional sound, yet Dykes and co. succeed in blowing new life into it, and kudos if they can boost their careers in the process. /Hal Horowitz, AllMusic

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Various - Daughters Of Texas

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:10
Size: 89.7 MB
Styles: Blues vocals, Texas blues
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[3:32] 1. Lou Ann Barton - Young And Dumb
[5:58] 2. Lou Ann Barton - (I Feel Like) Breaking Up Somebody's Home
[4:39] 3. Keri Leigh - In The Mood
[2:42] 4. Kathy & The Kilowatts - Say The Wrong Thing
[1:51] 5. Diane Colbe - Rock & Roll Fever
[2:10] 6. Big Martha - Horny Old Buzzard, Dirty Old Man
[2:36] 7. Big Martha - Your Magic Touch (Quit Working On Me)
[2:22] 8. Janis Joplin - Nobody Knows When You're Down And Out
[2:09] 9. Janis Joplin - Walk Right In
[2:27] 10. Jeanette Williams - I Can Tell I'm Losing You
[2:55] 11. Kathy & The Kilowatts - Stepping Up In Class
[3:55] 12. Diane Colbe - Breaking Mama's Rule
[1:49] 13. Lavenia Lewis - Ain't Nobody Gonna Take My Man

This CD is all over the map. It features women from Texas, and their styles range from the blues shouting of Big Martha, whose song "Horny Old Buzzard, Dirty Old Man" is funky and funny, to the folkie stylings of Diane Colbe. In between are two tracks by a young and tough-sounding Lou Ann Barton, a great New Orleans-style R&B shuffle from Levenia Lewis, a burning version of "In the Mood" by Keri Leigh, and two acoustic blues songs by a young and primitively recorded Janis Joplin. Even though the choice of performers seems pretty slapdash, the disc makes for a good listen. ~Tim Sendra

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Nuno Mindelis - 2 albums: Free Blues / Texas Bound

Album: Free Blues
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:42
Size: 118.4 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[3:53] 1. Messing With The Kid
[3:36] 2. Feeling Alright
[3:38] 3. Get Out Of My Life, Woman
[4:50] 4. All Your Love
[4:29] 5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
[4:52] 6. Thrill Is Gone
[5:18] 7. Dust My Blues (Dust My Broom)
[3:15] 8. Rockin' Daddy
[4:16] 9. Rock Me Baby
[4:26] 10. Think Stax, Jax
[3:58] 11. Bullfrog Blues
[5:06] 12. Red House

Free Blues, by internationally acclaimed Blues guitarist Nuno Mindelis, celebrates a Blues Phoenix arising from the ashes. Blues music has undergone rediscovery and rebirth as it is passed from generation to generation. Eric Clapton and others helped deliver Blues reborn in the 1960's and 1970's. The Blues deserve more than a rote replay in exactly the same way as we have heard it for over 40 years. There is more to Blues than merely Blues Rock.

To honor those who have kept the Blues alive, Nuno first looked back to twelve themes which touched him deeply in his early teenage years. Tributes to the icons of the Blues, like Steve Cropper ("Get Stax, Jax"), are served, with tasty versions of the Blues classics ("Dust My Broom," "The Thrill is Gone," and many others, ending with a blistering rendition of Hendrix' "Red House"). Some tracks, like George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and "Feelin' Alright" by Dave Mason, are not part of the traditional Blues canon, but are critical to the development of the Blues nonetheless. Nuno follows these early mentors, who injected electricity and rock into the origianal rural blues form. They triggered an explosion of innovation and revolution in the language of the Blues, making it accessible to new generations. Indeed, without this innovation, the Blues might now be found only in a museum.

Free Blues continues the rebirth of the Blues, but now infusing the contemporary musical language instead of the Rock themes of the 60's. The true art is maintaining the traditional format of guitar and vocals as the foundation upon which Free Blues is crafted. Nuno creates a stunning and energized journey through the Blues that will both please Blues traditionalists and introduce this vital music to a new generation, just as the rock artists did decades ago. Make no mistake-- Free Blues is not electronica, hip hop, or some watered down Blues-tinged bouillabaisse-- it is the real Blues.

Find out what Guitar Player Magazine's Best Blues Guitarist has created, building on his two CD's with Stevie Ray Vaughan's rhythm section, Double Trouble, and what audiences from the Montreal International Jazz Festival to Austin have been talking about. Sit back, take a deep breath, and take in Free Blues.

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Album: Texas Bound
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:05
Size: 130.7 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 1996
Art: Front

[2:04] 1. Hugs
[4:33] 2. Back To Memphis
[3:49] 3. You Don't Have To Go
[8:30] 4. Egyptian Priestess
[4:04] 5. What Can I Do
[2:49] 6. Castles Made Of Sand
[5:01] 7. Hard To Bear
[4:00] 8. Avenue G
[3:52] 9. Monkey Joke
[3:48] 10. You Got Me Running
[7:17] 11. Blues For Antone's
[3:17] 12. They Call Me The Beast
[3:55] 13. Texas Bound

Brazil's leading electric blues player has recorded his third record at the source - Hit Shack Studios, Austin/Texas. With Stevie Ray Vaughan's old partners Tommy Shannon/Chris Layton and guests like Lou Ann Barton and Steve James, the Angola-born Mindelis pays tribute to some of his Texas Blues heroes. Also influenced by Jimmy Page, the man from Sao Paolo is a more than rewarding new bluesrock discovery.

Special Guests: Lou Ann Barton - back-up vocals, Steve James - dobro, Paul Orta - harmonica, Chris Higgs - piano, Riley Osbourn - hammond b3, piano.

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Lou Ann Barton - All Time Best

Size: 113,3 MB
Time: 48:24
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Texas Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Diving Duck (4:07)
02. He's Gotta Use His Head (To Turn Me On) (5:27)
03. I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home (5:53)
04. I Will Change That Too (3:12)
05. Natural Born Lover (3:40)
06. Not Even Me (3:30)
07. Rock 'n' Roll 800 (4:47)
08. Scratch My Back (3:43)
09. Shake A Hand (4:25)
10. Someday (3:15)
11. Te Ni Nee Ni Nu (2:50)
12. Young & Dumb (3:29)

Although she doesn't tour nearly as much as she probably could, Austin-based vocalist Lou Ann Barton is one of the finest purveyors of raw, unadulterated roadhouse blues from the female gender that you'll ever hear. Like Delbert McClinton, she can belt out a lyric so that she can be heard over a two-guitar band with horns. Born February 17, 1954, in Fort Worth, she's a veteran of thousands of dancehall and club shows all over Texas. Barton moved to Austin in the 1970s and later performed with the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although she has a few great recordings out, notably Old Enough (1982, Asylum Records), produced by Jerry Wexler and Glenn Frey, Barton has to be seen live to be fully appreciated. She belts out her lyrics in a twangy voice so full of Texas that you can smell the barbecue sauce. She swaggers confidently about the stage, casually tossing her cigarette to the floor as the band kicks in on its first number. The grace, poise, and confidence she projects on-stage is part of a long tradition for women blues singers. The blues world still needs more good female blues singers like Barton, to help to broaden the appeal of the music to diverse audiences and to further its evolution. Barton has a pair of excellent albums out on the Austin-based Antone's Records, Read My Lips (1989) and her cooperative effort with fellow Texas blues women Marcia Ball and Angela Strehli, Dreams Come True (1990). Old Enough was reissued on compact disc in 1992 on the Antone's label. Her recordings at the turn of the millennium included Thunderbroad (1999, Blues Factory) and Someday (2002, Catfish), and she has also subsequently guested on albums like Omar Kent Dykes' Big Town Playboy (Ruf Records, 2009). Here's hoping that this premier interpreter of Texas roadhouse blues will be well recorded in the years ahead. ~Richard Skelly

All Time Best

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Various - Texans: Live From Mountain Stage

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 51:00
Size: 116.8 MB
Styles: Americana, Texas blues
Year: 1995
Art: Front

[2:56] 1. Texas Tornados - (Is Anybody Going To) San Antone
[5:04] 2. Lou Ann Barton - Shake Your Hips
[3:42] 3. Ray Wylie Hubbard - Portales
[3:07] 4. Kelly Willis - Whatever Way the Wind Blows
[5:05] 5. Sara Hickman - Shadowboxing
[4:28] 6. Jimmie Dale Gilmore - Just a Wave
[2:45] 7. Townes Van Zandt - Buckskin Stallion Blues
[3:45] 8. Billy Joe Shaver - Georgia on a Fast Train
[3:01] 9. Joe Ely - I Had My Hopes Up High
[4:26] 10. Tish Hinojosa - Esperate (Wait For Me)
[5:44] 11. Marcia Ball - St. Gabriel
[3:18] 12. Guy Clark - She Ain't Going Nowhere
[3:33] 13. Asleep At The Wheel - Miles and Miles of Texas

Texans Live from Mountain Stage (Blue Plate Music 1995) - Blue Plate Music, an affiliate of John Prine's Oh Boy Records (now located in Nashville) has been compiling performances from the Live on Mountain Stage radio series for years. For Texans Live from Mountain Stage, the label assembled 13 Texas-based acts that appeared on the Mountain Stage and put them in this fun-filled, blues, rock, and boogie-drenched collection.

Live from Mountain Stage is broadcast on West Virginia public radio, and features two hours of live music 30 weeks a year. According to executive producer, Andy Ridenour, "One of the requirements [with West Virginia public radio] was that there be no overdubbing, and obviously there is no remixing of the two-track tapes."

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Lou Ann Barton - The Best!

Size: 150,0 MB
Time: 64:39
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Texas Blues, Rockin' Blues
Art: Full

01. Rocket in My Pocket (Feat. The Fabulous Thunderbirds) (2:33)
02. Sugar Coated Love (Feat. The Fabulous Thunderbirds) (2:53)
03. Good Rockin' Daddy (Feat. The Fabulous Thunderbirds) (2:45)
04. Every Night of the Week (Feat. The Fabulous Thunderbirds) (2:34)
05. Maybe (3:09)
06. You Can Have My Husband (3:19)
07. You'll Lose a Good Thing (3:23)
08. Can't Believe You Wanna Leave (2:49)
09. Shake Your Hips (4:59)
10. Te Ni Nee Ni Nu (3:08)
11. Shake a Hand (3:55)
12. I Idolize You (3:39)
13. Bad Thing (3:06)
14. It's Raining (2:49)
15. I'm Old Enough (3:54)
16. In the Middle of the Night (3:06)
17. Send Me Some Lovin' (2:56)
18. I'm in the Mood For You (2:24)
19. Shake a Hand [Live in the Studio] (7:10)

Not that most folks outside of Texas necessarily remember this, but Lou Ann Barton was a founding member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and was that band's lead singer before she left for a solo career. This set isn't a typical "best-of," although it does cover all the stages of her recording and performing career, with signature album tracks as well as five previously unreleased tracks from her early time with the Thunderbirds, tracks from her cooperative release with fellow Texas blues women Marcia Ball and Angela Strehli, Dreams Come True, from 1990, and other captivating odds and ends, all of which adds up to a nice introduction to this fine singer. ~Review by Steve Leggett

Thanks to Kempen.
The Best!

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Johnny Moeller - BlooGaLoo! (With Kim Wilson, Lou Ann Barton, Shawn Pittman)

Size: 101,4 MB
Time: 35:38
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2010
Styles: Texas Blues
Art: Front

01. Bloogaloo (3:11)
02. I'm Movin' On Up (3:29)
03. Trick Bag (3:42)
04. Got A Feelin' (2:14)
05. I'm Stuck On You (2:25)
06. Theme From The One-Armed Swordsman (4:22)
07. Everybody's Got To Cry Sometime (4:07)
08. Raise Your Hands (3:16)
09. Well Goodbye Baby (2:43)
10. Shufflin' Around (3:16)
11. Tease Me Baby (2:48)

Austin isn't a town that takes its blues lightly, much less its blues guitar heroes, so the fact that Austinite Johnny Moeller not only cut his teeth at legendary Austin blues club Antone's, but was mentored and touted as the next Stevie Ray by club owner Clifford Antone himself, should speak volumes. Moeller also happens to be the guitarist for the Fabulous Thunderbirds, who have no small reputation in Austin themselves, but he ventures out on his own on BlooGaLoo!. Moeller gets vocal assists from a couple of Texas blues titans as well -- Thunderbirds singer Kim Wilson and LouAnn Barton. Wilson rips it up on supercharged versions of East Texas bluesman Frankie Lee Sims' "Well Goodbye Baby" and Jesse Anderson's ‘60s Chicago blues nugget "Got a Feelin'," while Barton burns in a sassy duet with Moeller on "I'm Stuck on You" and Earl King's "Everybody's Got to Cry Sometime." Moeller takes a few lead vocals on BlooGaLoo!, but he doesn't pretend to be an earth-shaking singer -- his guitar is the real star of the album. One of Moeller's greatest gifts as an axe slinger is his tasteful, economical phrasing. Having learned from the best, he understands that you can say more with one well-placed note than a feverish flurry of misfires. Add to that a visceral tone that seems to give Moeller's every riff a sense of urgency, and you begin to understand why he's emerged as a six-string hotshot in a town that's been all about guitar heroes for decades. ~Review by James Allen

Thanks to Marc.
BlooGaLoo!

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Various - Antone's Bringing You The Best In Blues

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 63:03
Size: 144.3 MB
Styles: Texas blues, Chicago blues, Memphis blues
Year: 1990
Art: Front

[4:12] 1. Buddy Guy - Look On Yonder's Wall
[3:46] 2. Otis Rush - Double Trouble
[4:06] 3. Ronnie Earl - Midnight Clothes
[4:14] 4. Memphis Slim, Matt 'Guitar' Murphy - Havin' Fun
[4:08] 5. Eddie Taylor - Bad Boy
[2:53] 6. Angela Strehli - It Hurts Me Too
[6:31] 7. James Cotton - It Ain't Right
[3:04] 8. Doug Sahm - I Don't Believe
[3:11] 9. Doug Sahm - What's Your Name
[3:51] 10. Lou Ann Barton - Sugar Coated Love
[2:28] 11. Lou Ann Barton - Mean Mean Man
[4:44] 12. Silent Partners - Two Steps From The Blues
[4:40] 13. Silent Partners - If It's All Night, It's All Right
[3:14] 14. Angela Strehli - A Fool In Love
[4:32] 15. Matt 'Guitar' Murphy - Way Down South
[3:22] 16. Jimmy Rogers - Chicago Bound

A sampler of artists on this Austin, TX, label, it includes a variety of Texas blues and R&B, originally released 1987-1990. Featured are Otis Rush, Angela Strehli, Doug Sahm, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, and several others. ~ Niles J. Frantz

Artists include: Memphis Slim, Marcia Ball, Otis Rush, Lou Ann Barton, Jimmy Rogers, James Cotton, Buddy Guy, Ronnie Earl and Doug Sahm. Personnel: Doug Sahm (vocals, guitar, piano); Jimmy Rogers , Ronnie Earl, Buddy Guy (vocals, guitar); Lou Ann Barton, Marcia Ball, Angela Strehli (vocals); Denny Freeman (guitar, piano); Mel Brown (guitar, organ); George Lewis , Derek O'Brien, Eddie Taylor, Hubert Sumlin, James Cotton , Jimmie Vaughan, Luther Tucker, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Otis Rush (guitar); Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff (harmonica, saxophone); Snooky Pryor (harmonica); Rocky Morales, Joe Sublett (saxophone); Charlie MacBurney, Gary Slechta (trumpet); Jon Blondell (trombone); Reese Wynans (piano, organ); Memphis Slim, Pinetop Perkins, Sunnyland Slim (piano); Larry LaRue, George Rains, Timothy Taylor, Ted Harvey, Tony Coleman, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (drums).

Antone's Bringing You The Best In Blues

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Various - Antone's Women: Bringing You The Best In Blues

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 47:19
Size: 108.3 MB
Styles: Contemporary blues vocals, Electric Texas blues
Year: 1992/2005
Art: Front

[3:41] 1. Angela Strehli, Lou Ann Barton, Marcia Ball - Something's Got A Hold On Me
[3:27] 2. Sarah Brown, Angela Strehli, Lou Ann Barton, Marcia Ball - Hurtback
[3:43] 3. Angela Strehli - Big Town Playboy
[4:16] 4. Angela Strehli - Neighbor, Neighbor
[2:55] 5. Lou Ann Barton - Down South In New Orleans
[3:23] 6. Lou Ann Barton - You'll Lose A Good Thing
[3:13] 7. Barbara Lynn - I'm A Good Woman
[4:09] 8. Sue Foley - Queen Bee
[2:42] 9. Sue Foley - But I Forgive You
[3:01] 10. Sue Foley - Cuban Getaway
[3:26] 11. Toni Price - Twelve Bar Blues
[5:56] 12. Toni Price - Richest One
[3:21] 13. Lavelle White - Wrappin' Up Your Love

Eight gals whose natural habitat is the blues bar in all its beery, bedenimed isolation--the malest enclave this side of the men's locker room. Individually they're not immune to the rowdy conservatism that shackles all so-called house-rockin' music, but together they constitute a singular sisterhood: tough and independent, yet--with guidance from the label's cofounder, unflappable Austin oldtimer Angela Strehli--willing to help each other hoe that hard row. The songwriting is high generic, which in bar blues takes effort, and this sampler isn't just a wheat-from-chaff job. It highlights facets of a collective sensibility--earnest or cynical or sluttish or loving or proud, it's always of its world. ~Robert Christgau

Antone's Women: Bringing You The Best In Blues

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